i will wait
by psychrollins
Summary: When it comes to Roman, Seth will always wait.
**A/N:** **I had rolleigns feels and because i'd stayed up until 5am watching wrestlemania i felt ill so i decided to indulge myself resulting in this! enjoy! head over to my tumblr to talk/see me freaking out THAT ROMAN GOT HIS MANIA MOMENT HELL YEAH**

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When it comes to Roman, Seth will always wait. Whether it's waiting for him to take one of those extremely long showers or waiting for him to be done calming Dean down, he'll sit and wait until Roman's done with whatever. Of course, he hasn't been doing any of that kind of waiting for a long time, not since that fatal night of June a couple of years ago.

Truth was, at the time, he'd become bored with waiting. Frustrated even, that Roman had so much time for everyone and everything else other than him. They were meant to be partners, lovers, and yet Seth always seemed to come last. Roman would always help everyone - a trait that initially attracted Seth to him in the first place - putting off the important things just to lend someone a hand. Seth found it heartwarming, to begin with. But then times would come where Roman would be out till all hours of the morning, having a heart to heart with Jack Swagger because the man was going through a rocky divorce and Roman knew what that was like. Seth knew that Roman was just a kind hearted man but he came to resent laying in bed alone while his man put the world to rights.

So Seth did what he did back then in June, to somehow let Roman know that he's tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for them to be on the same page in the relationship. He wanted bigger and better things and if Roman was too busy helping everyone else to chase those things then he'd damn well do it on his own.

It had felt good for a while, but Seth still found himself waiting for Roman. He waited for Roman to hate him, to attack him in the ring, but all he got was an angry Dean Ambrose filled with enough hate to cover Roman's too. It was stupid, really, how he'd left Roman because he was tired of waiting but he was _still_ waiting.

Stealing his Wrestlemania moment should have felt better than it did. He wasn't waiting anymore, he would bring the fight to Roman, if that's what it took. It never did have the desired effect though, thanks to Brock Lesnar.

And then came his knee and more waiting began. Waiting to be healed, waiting to see his title be claimed by someone else. Waiting for Roman to reach out to him, see if he's okay. He waits a long time, he's already had his surgery and is way into his rehabbing when Dean comes to see him. He could see that his former brother was still angry but he'd wished him a speedy recovery anyway and that the ring wasn't the same without him. That had put a smile on his face but it had soon vanished when Dean left and hadn't even mentioned Roman, not even once.

Seth guesses that's why he's here now. Tired of waiting, again, for the man who completely owns his heart no matter what. He'd been apprehensive of Roman's title match, he'd come so close so many times but it always got ripped away from him right at the last moment.

But watching him in the ring, Seth realised that Roman had stopped being all about other people and started being about himself. His movements were fluid and he kept digging deep inside himself, Seth had never seen him dig so deep. And then finally the waiting was over and the ref slammed his arm down on the mat the third time, Roman's name shouted loud by the announcer as the new champion. If Roman was finally done putting other people before himself, then Seth was finally done waiting for Roman to come back to him.

He's waiting now, for Roman to finally make it back from the stadium and he hopes to God he's not got company. There is only one king size, but dread fills him up a way.

When the door does finally click, Seth shifts on the bed, his knee aching a little from keeping it one position for a little too long. Roman flicks the light on and his eyes go wide when he spots Seth.

"How'd you get in here?" His voice is deep and rough, exhaustion setting in.

"I pulled a few strings."

"Still the company's little golden boy, then." Seth shrugs at that, this isn't what he wants. Doesn't want resentment from Roman even though he still deserves it.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Roman adds, setting the championship and his bags down but making no move towards Seth. He's still in his ring gear which surprises Seth, he figured Roman had showered and changed at the stadium seeing as he'd taken so long to get back.

"I'm done waiting."

"Pretty sure the doc will tell you that you've got a whole lot more waiting to do before you can get back in the ring."

"I wasn't talking about that."

Roman raises an eyebrow, "No?"

Seth stands, hobbling a little as he steps toward Roman. "I'm done waiting for _you."_

Roman scoffs, moving away from Seth the moment he steps into his space and starts undoing his vest. "That's good, because I ain't got a clue what you're waiting for me, for." he throws his vest onto the floor and Seth can see the punishment Roman's body had taken during his match and he's still favouring his arm.

"Waiting for you to come back to me."

Roman scoffs again, louder this time, and heads into the bathroom with his bag. Seth follows because he is not waiting for him to be done this time. He leans against the crook of the door, watching Roman tie his hair back in the mirror and observe himself for any damage he might have missed.

"I ain't coming back to you Seth, you made it pretty clear you didn't want me when you hit me with that chair."

"That's why I'm here. I know you're not going to come back to me so I'm coming back for _you._ "

"It's no coincidence that you're 'coming back for me' a year after you ruined my first Wrestlemania?"

"It's not like that!" Seth raises his voice only for Roman let out a frustrated sigh and pull some wrapping from his bag.

"What's it like, then?" Seth stays silent, chewing his thumb and watching Roman unravel the medical tape and start methodically wrapping it around his shoulder, chest and arm.

"You really want to know?"

"Do I really want to know why my boyfriend dumped my ass live on television? Let's see, shall we?" The hurt laced in Roman's voice cuts right into Seth. He wasn't sure how this night was going to go, but he hadn't imagined it to hurt this much. Seeing Roman so vulnerable, hurting both physically and emotionally, mostly because of him, makes the regret flood Seth's whole body.

"I was always waiting for you," Seth starts, trying to swallow down the sick feeling that's overtaken him. "Always waiting for you do be done with someone else. Dean, Swagger, every person that's ever asked you for help. I was always just sitting and waiting for you but you gave yourself so completely to everyone that at the end of the day, there wasn't enough you left for me."

"That's bullshit."

"Is it? So you didn't stay out till all hours of the morning talking to Swagger about his divorce, leaving me waiting in bed for you? So you didn't always make sure Dean wasn't destroying everything after we lost a match before even seeing how I was? You're such a good man that you spread yourself too thin," Seth sighs, trying to hold back tears. He's never told anyone why he did what he did, only the half ass excuse that he wanted to be the man at the top, which of course was true, but since the Shield's debut he'd wanted it to be with his boyfriend and his brother by his side. "It felt like you didn't even want me."

"Bullshit, I love you Seth!" Seth's heart stops for a moment when he realises that Roman has just said _love_ and not _loved._ Roman lets out a loud noise of frustration as he fails to tuck the end piece of the wrapping into the slit at the back of his shoulder. Seth moves slowly to stand beside him, taking hold of the wrapping and tucking it away. Roman drops his head, body instinctively moving towards Seth's fingers even though he knows that Roman is trying his hardest not too.

Gently, Seth lets his hand rest on Roman's shoulder blade. It's been a long time since he's touched him like this. Felt his warm, smooth bronze skin beneath his fingers. The few moments he's had in the ring with him don't compare to this and suddenly a thousand memories of Seth's hands travelling miles of Roman's soft skin play in his mind.

"I never meant to make you feel like I didn't want you." Roman softly says after a moment.

"I should have said something."

"Understatement of the year." Seth huffs but there's no heat in Roman's words and in the mirror he can see the faintest of smiles on Roman's face.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your night, I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea telling you all this after you just had the biggest moment of your life."

Roman turns then, leaning back against the sink. Seth drinks him in, it's not a good time to be doing so, but it's been so long.

"You haven't ruined my night, Seth." Seth doesn't know what to say that. Because things had been going pretty sour up until now, if he's honest, and the warmth of Roman's voice throws him off guard. Roman did always do that, though, he could change mood like the weather, going from a stormy anger to a gentle calmness in a matter of minutes.

"How's the rehab going?" Roman asks, like they're two men on the street having a normal conversation, not ex lovers cooped in a small hotel bathroom at God knows what time in the morning. When Seth fails to answer quickly enough, Roman lets out a soft laugh.

"Just because I never came to see you doesn't mean I didn't pester Dean for updates and constantly check your Twitter page."

"You did?"

Roman nods, licking his lips. "I still care, Seth. And I can't tell you how I felt when I watched that video," He looks to the floor, taking a deep breath, "But I was still hurt and I couldn't face seeing you like that."

When Seth looks to the floor, Roman catches his chin between his fingers and forces him to look at him. Through the scruff of his beard, Seth feels the warmth of Roman's fingers on his skin and a shiver runs down his spine.

"What do you want out of this, Seth?" He's quiet for a moment, wonders whether he really has the right to ask for what he wants. Seth clasps his hand over Roman's, feeling his smooth, warm skin on the pads of his fingers.

"A second chance." He says quietly, not even sure whether Roman heard him despite their closeness. He knows he has though, when Roman releases his chin and laces their fingers together, the way they used to.

Roman squeezes his hand, "It's, it will take time. Sometimes I still feel that chair."

"I'll wait a million years if I have to."

Roman's lip curls into the smallest smile, "I thought you said you were done waiting for me?"

Seth lifts their hands up to his lips and brushes a gentle kiss against Roman's knuckles. "For you I'd wait forever." And no matter what happens, Seth knows he will always wait for Roman.


End file.
